Rights statement: © Matthew Johnson 2019. The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Global Discourse: An interdisciplinary journal of current affairs, Volume 9, Number 3, September 2019, pp. 557-559
Accepted author manuscript, 104 KB, PDF document
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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Review article
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Review article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Overlooking British Experiences
T2 - a reply to Evershed
AU - Johnson, Matthew
N1 - © Matthew Johnson 2019. The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Global Discourse: An interdisciplinary journal of current affairs, Volume 9, Number 3, September 2019, pp. 557-559
PY - 2019/9/30
Y1 - 2019/9/30
N2 - Jonathan Evershed presents a compelling account of the clear dangers that lie in forms of state-led remembrance. The danger is, of course, that, in commemorating, actual experience is lost. While I do not wish to challenge any of the core claims in the piece, I do think that there is one element that requires greater examination: Evershed’s claim that contemporary Irish conceptions of the First World War as ‘A war that stopped a war’ ‘contributes to a (post)colonial and militaristic nostalgia in British political culture’. While the dangers of that for Northern Ireland are clear, perhaps the greatest risks lie in England, since any such benign account of the conflict serves radically to distort the experience of those soldiers commonly regarded as identifying as British and painted as being motivated by patriotism. Drawing on experience from Tyneside, I argue that, in considering the nature of that conflict, we must remember the many diverse, and often banal, reasons for working class engagement in conflict.
AB - Jonathan Evershed presents a compelling account of the clear dangers that lie in forms of state-led remembrance. The danger is, of course, that, in commemorating, actual experience is lost. While I do not wish to challenge any of the core claims in the piece, I do think that there is one element that requires greater examination: Evershed’s claim that contemporary Irish conceptions of the First World War as ‘A war that stopped a war’ ‘contributes to a (post)colonial and militaristic nostalgia in British political culture’. While the dangers of that for Northern Ireland are clear, perhaps the greatest risks lie in England, since any such benign account of the conflict serves radically to distort the experience of those soldiers commonly regarded as identifying as British and painted as being motivated by patriotism. Drawing on experience from Tyneside, I argue that, in considering the nature of that conflict, we must remember the many diverse, and often banal, reasons for working class engagement in conflict.
U2 - 10.1332/204378919X15646709278039
DO - 10.1332/204378919X15646709278039
M3 - Review article
VL - 9
SP - 557
EP - 559
JO - Global Discourse
JF - Global Discourse
SN - 2326-9995
IS - 3
ER -